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HELPFUL WORDS 



FOR THB 



NEWLY-CONFIRMED. 



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PHILADELPHIA, PA. : 

LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 



*ndCOPY TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 

'898. ' ^ | l^ «fe 



THE LIBRARY 
OF CONGRESS 

WASHINGTON 



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6152 



Copyright, 1898, 

BY THE 

LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY* 



&&&&&&&&&&>&& 



HELPFUL WORDS 



FOR THE 



NEWLY-CONFIRMED. 



My Christian Friend: 

You have just been admitted to full mem- 
bership in the Church by the solemn rite of 
Confirmation. For several months previous 
to this you attended a course of Catechetical 
instruction. Your pastor expounded to you 
the great truths of salvation, as well as those 
doctrines which are distinctive to our Lutheran 
Church. He explained the Commandments, 
the Creed, the lord's Prayer and the Sacra- 



4 HELPFUL WORDS. 

ments, and emphasized the necessity of re- 
pentance, of faith in our Saviour and of holy 
living. Influenced by a sense of duty to pub- 
licly acknowledge Christ and unite yourself 
with God's people, you appeared before the 
congregation, and, like Timothy, professing a 
good profession before many witnesses, you 
confessed your faith and vow r ed obedience to 
the Saviour to the end of life. 

YOU ARK TO BE CONGRATULATED 

upon the step you have taken. The Church 
rejoices over your coming and is glad to 
number you among its communicant members. 
The Church, like the angels in heaven, re- 
joices over one sinner that repenteth. There 
is also much meaning in what you have done. 
You have openly before the world taken your 
stand on the side of Christ and will hence- 
forth be enrolled among His avowed friends. 
Moreover, your example will tell for Christ 
and the Church, and you may unconsciously 



HELPFUL WORDS, 5 

be the means of influencing others to a like 
decision. 

You believe that you are a child of God, 
that your sins are forgiven through the atoning 
merits of Jesus Christ, that the Holy Spirit is 
abiding in you and renewing you day by day, 
and in reliance upon divine help you have re- 
solved to lead a christian life and to faithfully 
discharge the obligations which spring out of 
the new relation into w T hich you have so re- 
cently entered. No doubt you are sincere in 
your resolution and determined to stand by 
it to the end. But although sincere and in 
great earnest in this matter you are neverthe- 
less young in the christian life, just a be- 
ginner, and in need of additional advice and 
admonition. You are as a little child just 
learning to walk : you need a gentle hand to 
guide your tottering steps in the narrow way, 
and a loving voice to encourage you to perse- 
vere in your efforts. It is for this reason that 
the following brief words are addressed to you* 



6 HELPFUL WORDS. 

and the hope is indulged that they may be of 
real service to you in your endeavors to lead a 
christian life and be a useful member of the 
church to which you belong. 
It is a common mistake of 

BEGINNERS IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 

to believe that all is finished and nothing more 
remains for them to do when they have united 
with the Church and received their first com- 
munion This is not only a mistake but a 
mischievous error, and one that is fraught with 
dire consequences. If such a thought has en- 
tered your mind discard it at once. Instead of 
finished, your work has but just begun. You 
have only taken the first open step in the 
active religious life. That life still lies before 
you. Whether you will succeed in your under- 
taking and come off victorious depends largely 
tinder God upon the measure of fidelity w r ith 
which you meet the duties and requirements 
which are the conditions of success and victory! 



HELPFUL WORDS. 7 

One plain duty essential to a true christian 
life is 

THE DAILY READING OF YOUR BIBLE. 

You have a Bible. Perhaps it is a mother's 
Bible or a gift from a valued friend. Perhaps 
you have been reading it all along with some 
degree of regularity. If not, begin at once. 
Let not a day pass without reading a portion 
of it. Go to it as eagerly as the thirsty trav- 
eler goes to the cooling spring and drink of its 
life giving waters. A wonderful book is the 
Bible. It is a lamp for our feet and a light for 
our path. It has strength for the weary, cour- 
age for the disheartened and joy for the sor- 
rowing. No one can read it without being 
the better for it and being helped by it. It is 
rightly called God's Word. It is the Word of 
God ; in it God speaks to us, reveals His will, 
makes known His purposes and discloses His 
infinite love and mercy. In it we may read 
again and again the story of the Saviour's 



8 HELPFUL WORDS. 

coming, of His death on the cross, and of His 
willingness to save all who come to Him. If 
you have doubts God's Word will remove 
them; if you are in difficulties it will clear 
them away; if you are in trials it will show 
you the way out, or else how to bear them ; if 
at any time you feel your sins pressing upon 
you it will point you to the Lamb of God that 
taketh away the sin of the world. Oh ! neglect 
not the reading of your Bible. The more you 
read it the more you will love it, and the 
sweeter it will become to you. Another re- 
quirement is 

DAILY PRAYER. 

Your Catechism has taught you the mean- 
ing of prayer and how to pray. I would urge 
upon you the duty of daily prayer. The day 
should begin and end with pra}'er. In the 
morning you should pray for God's guidance 
and direction, and in the evening for His for- 
giveness and protection ; in the morning praise 
for the rest and safety of the night, in the 



HELPFUL WORDS. 9 

evening for the help and deliverance during 
the day. He who begins the day with prayer 
begins the da}' with the battle half won, and 
he who ends the day in prayer will end it 
victoriously. Oh ! the value of that prayer 
which none but God sees and hears. In such 
prayer we renew 7 our strength and gather our 
w r eapons for life's conflicts ; at such times the 
individual soul receives courage to face tempta- 
tions and wisdom to foil the tempter's power. 
It is the place w r here unknown to the great 
world we may pour into Jesus' ear the story of 
our troubles and sins and failures and defeats, 
where we may utter the secret longings of our 
hearts and our yearnings for purity and holi- 
ness. If you would succeed in your christian 
life and grow in the grace and knowledge of 
Jesus Christ, be often in secret prayer. 

REGULAR ATTENDANCE UPON DIVINE W r ORSHIP 

is another essential. The Church is God's 
house. God's people meet there for united 



io HELPFUL WORDS. 

worship. There is much inspiration and help 
in worshiping with your fellow christians. 
God meets His people whenever they come to 
His house and blesses them. He has filled His 
house with rich gifts and treasures for you. 
His servant, your pastor, is there to give you 
God's message. That message is designed to 
instruct you, to refresh and fortify you. The 
Church is the wayside inn where you may 
enter to rest and invigorate yourself for the 
journey of life. If you are absent but once 
you will miss much, you may miss the very 
things you require for your spiritual welfare. 
The pastor may have a word in his sermon 
just suited to you, and you will not get it. 
You cannot be a christian and neglect your 
church. 

Be careful then about your church attend- 
ance. Never stay away if you can possibly be 
there. Guard against missing the first ser- 
vice ; if you miss one it will be easier to miss 
the second. Be in your pew every Lord's day 



HELPFUL WORDS, 11 

if at all possible. The same is true in regard 
to the week-day services of the church. Make 
no worldly engagement that will interfere with 
attendance upon them. You need the benefits 
which these services confer and will be poor 
without them. Moreover, avoid becoming 
intimate with young people of other churches, 
for they may entice you on the score of friend- 
ship to go with them to their services, and 
thus you will lay the foundation for neglecting 
your own place of w r orship. Friendship is 
often a source of sweetest and purest joys, but 
do not forsake your own and wander off to 
some other church for the sake of friendship. 
In like manner shun intimacy with those who 
are not members of any church. There is 
danger that their influence over you may be 
stronger than yours over them, and so your 
spiritual interests will be imperiled. To pre- 
serve your piety and to keep you safe, go to 
church with all regularity, go to the prayer- 
meetings, but above all go to the 



12 HELPFUL WORDS. 

LORD'S TABI.B. 

The holy sacrament of the lord's Supper 
was instituted by the Saviour for his followers. 
In it He gives Himself to the faithful commu- 
nicant. He who partakes of the communion 
worthily receives the forgiveness of sins, life 
and salvation. It also exhibits and empha- 
sizes the wonderful love of the Saviour, a love 
that brought Him from heaven to earth, that 
constrained Him to undergo the woes and sor- 
rows of life, and that finally led Him to Cal- 
vary. The believing disciple will have his 
heart filled with joy and peace, and be made 
strong for duty and sacrifice, whenever he 
communes at the table of his Lord. 

It is your duty to be at the communion 
whenever it is observed. You should be there 
if at all possible. You should permit nothing 
to interfere. You should not even consult 
your own feelings and inclinations. You 
should make no engagements to be elsewhere 
on communion day. Even a sense of unfitness 



HELPFUL WORDS. 13 

ana unworthiness must not deter you from 
coming ; on the contrary, this should be an 
incentive to urge you thither. If you have 
sinned and done wrong, repent of these things 
and come ; if you have wandered in forbidden 
paths, return ; if you have grown cold in your 
zeal and love, seek to rekindle them at the 
Lord's table. You will gain nothing by re- 
maining away ; indeed, you will lose every- 
thing. Be there, for it is your solemn duty. 

But duty is a cold word. You should esteem 
it a blessed privilege thus to confess your 
Lord at His table. You ought not to find it 
in your heart to remain away from this feast 
of love, so sweet and so precious, and thus 
deprive yourself of the comfort and hope which 
are imparted there. 

WORKING IN AND FOR THE CHURCH. 

To do something in the Church, to do some- 
thing for the Church, to do something for 
Christ and his cause— this will be a great 



14 HELPFUL WORDS. 

help to you in your christian life. The 
Church needs workers, needs members who 
are willing to serve it. The amount of work 
to be done is great, and of such endless variety 
as to make it possible for every one to find 
something that is suited to his ability. 

The daily reading of the Bible, secret prayer 
and attendance upon the worship and ordi- 
nances of God's house, are all means of grace 
designed to develop and strengthen Christian 
character and promote piety. But this is not 
all. The Psalmist says : ■ ' Wait on the Lord 
and He shall strengthen thy heart/ ' To what 
purpose is this strength which is gained by 
waiting on the Lord in His appointed way? 
What is to be done w T ith it ? Is it to be dissi- 
pated by idleness or neglect? Surely, there is 
but one answer to these inquiries : It is to be 
expended in service for Him, in honest, cheer- 
ful toil in His Church. The Lord has no 
room for idlers and drones in His kingdom. 
The command of the Master still is, " Go work 
to-day in my vineyard.' ' 



HELPFUL WORDS. 15 

You should be ambitious then to be more 
than a mere ornament in the church to which 
you belong ; you should not be satisfied with 
mere church membership and holy living ; 
you should aim to be an active, working dis- 
ciple of Jesus. Be ready to respond to the call 
for workers, put your spiritual strength into 
exercise. Your pastor w T ill be only too glad 
to assign you some task. Go to work, use 
your gifts for God's glory, be a blessing to 
your church. And finally, do not neglect the 
privilege of 

GIVING TO YOUR CHURCH. 

A religion that costs nothing is too cheap to 
last long. God's work calls directly for help, 
pecuniary help. Your own Church, the cause 
of Missions and Education, all these must be 
supported by the voluntary gifts of christians. 
If you would preserve your interest in Reli- 
gion, in your Church, give, give all you can, 
make it a conscientious duty to give. The 



i6 



HELPFUL WORDS. 



liberal soul shall grow fat. May God bless 
you and make you an honored and useful 
member of His Church, is the prayer of 

YOUR PASTOR. 



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